


I Can't Lose You

by ApolloLoki97



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alexandria Pre Negan, Daryl is a Good Dad, Daughter!Reader - Freeform, Fluff, Gen, I need more Dad Daryl, Protective Daryl Dixon, Reader Insert, protective Reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:33:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25410190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ApolloLoki97/pseuds/ApolloLoki97
Summary: You have been with Rick's group since Atlanta after Carol found you alone in the woods. You immediately bonded with Daryl and considered him the closest thing you had to a father.When a run goes wrong and he nearly dies, you can't handle it. You make sure to tell him how much he means to you and that you can't lose him.-----Or when Daryl is hurt on a run and his adoptive daughter has to get him back to Alexandria and they share a moment.
Relationships: Daryl Dixon & reader
Comments: 1
Kudos: 40





	I Can't Lose You

You and Daryl were screwed. 

It was supposed to be a simple run. Judith needed new clothes and Denise was running low on meds. Daryl had immediately volunteered to go as he would do anything for the smallest Grimes. You would as well. 

You had been with Rick’s group since Atlanta. Carol had found you when she was looking for berries in the woods. You were alone, scared, and covered in blood from the Walker you had somehow managed to kill. At just thirteen, you had no family and no friends to travel with once the Dead began walking so she and the others took you in.

Growing up in the Foster System, you didn’t stay in one place for very long. It was always the same thing: one parent decided you were too much to handle and they sent you away only to be unwanted at the next house. After a while, you decided that nobody would put you first, nobody would want you.

That is until you met Daryl Dixon.

You met both of the Dixon brothers in the camp at the quarry and while Merle scared the hell out of you at first, Daryl was kind and he looked out for you. When the quarry was overrun, the night Amy died, Daryl had arrived just in time and saved you from two Walkers who tried to kill you. He had then taken you in his arms and the two of you were stuck with each other since.

Daryl was the father you never had. He looked after you, kept you safe, and if anyone were to lift a finger to you, they would be on the ground before they could. When you and others arrived at Alexandria, you, now a teenager, took it upon yourself to do whatever you could to help the community. Daryl wasn’t thrilled when you would leave the safety that the walls provided, but you had been going on runs with Glenn since the prison and even though he worried about you, he trusted you. 

So when Denise and Rick asked you both to go look for what they needed, you were the first one to offer to be Daryl’s partner. It had been easy as any other supply run. You weren’t that good with the crossbow no matter how many times Daryl tried to teach you, so you stuck with your gun and knives. 

Rosita had taught you how to use a machete shortly after you met her and you were pretty good with it. As you and Daryl cleared store after store in the shopping plaza, you didn’t speak. The two of you had developed a shorthand that involved various hand signals and one-word answers. He kept one eye on you and one eye on your surroundings as you swept the many shelves. It was shortly after you entered a large clothing outlet that everything went downhill. 

Daryl and you entered through the back, making noise to call the Walkers to the front. After taking out a few each, you began your sweep. “We should probably grab a few more sizes up for Jude, just so we don’t have to go out again next month,” you said heading towards the kid’s section. 

“Do kids grow that fast?” Daryl asked, following you, a bolt notched on his bow already.

“Faster than you think,” you said, scanning the racks and pulling things out and stuffing them into your bag. You laughed as you found a shirt and held it up to Daryl. It was a small shirt with the words: FUTURE SHERIFF in big bold letters. Daryl chuckled at the sight. 

“Rick would think that’s ridiculous,” Daryl said and you raised a brow at him, “yeah, get it.” With a laugh, you put it in your bag and continued through the aisles. 

“Ever think about havin’ a little one of your own?” You asked nonchalantly as you walked.

“Nah, got my hands full enough with you,” Daryl teased and you jabbed his shoulder. 

“Very funny,” you said and he smiled slightly. 

“Why ya ask?” He asked. 

“Just curious,” you said, “you don’t talk about things like that. At least not with me.”

“Didn’t realize ya wanted to know that kind of stuff,” Daryl admitted. You stopped by the shoe section and picked up a pair of small cowboy boots, tossing them in your bag with a pair of sneakers for Judith as well. 

“I wanna know everything about you. That’s how family works, Daryl,” you told him. He just grunted in acknowledgment and you sighed. Daryl told you a lot, more than Rick and Carol for sure, but you knew that he was still holding things back. He never talked to you about Beth and Merle was a rare topic. 

You didn’t have the most memories with the older Dixon, but you knew he loved Daryl regardless of what he said and he had protected him against the Governor. To you, Merle was alright and you wished he could see the man his baby brother had turned into. 

On the other hand, you didn’t tell him everything either. You didn’t like to talk about your experience in the system. You knew he didn’t have the best childhood either, but every time you tried to talk about what had happened to you at the different homes, you couldn’t get the words out. However, he never pushed you to talk about it and that was why you loved him so much, why you considered him something like a father, even if you had never admitted that out loud. 

“(Y/N),” Daryl said, pulling you out of your thoughts. 

“What?” You asked. 

“Ya been starin’ at that pair of shoes for five minutes,” he said gesturing to the sandals you held. You quickly placed them in your bag. 

“Right,” you said, snapping out of your haze. 

“Ya alright?” He asked, placing a hand on your arm. 

“I’m fine,” you told him, gripping his hand in return. “Come on.” The two of you continued through the store, grabbing things as you went. The stench of decaying flesh was everywhere and Daryl gave you one of his spare bandannas to cover your nose and mouth. 

As you moved through the building, you found evidence that there had been people staying in the store at some point. Food wrappers, empty water bottles, and even vacant sleeping bags littered the wider spaces and in between fallen shelves. 

Daryl helped you over a stack of fallen furniture, keeping a firm grip on your arm the whole time. Exiting the children’s section, the floor in the main walkway area was covered in dark blood. You figured it was a couple of months old at least. Testing it with the toe of your boot confirmed it. 

“Wonder what happened,” you said, looking at all the blood and even more empty sleeping bags. 

“Dunno,” Daryl mumbled, “nothin’ good.” You nodded in agreement and made your way towards the adult section in hopes of finding a new jacket before winter came. When you turned the corner, a lumbering Walker appeared out of nowhere, tackling you before you could get your knife up. 

You hit the ground hard, scrambling to get the rotting monster off of you. A second later and the Walker collapsed onto you, limp, with a bolt stuck in the side of its head. You pushed it off of you, rolling out of the way. Daryl was at your side a second later. 

“Dammit, (Y/N)!” He yelled, “That is why I always tell ya to pay attention to what’s goin’ on.” You shoved off the hand he offered and got up by yourself. 

“I’m fine, Daryl,” you said, brushing yourself off. Daryl bent down to retrieve his arrow.

“Yeah, this time,” he said. “What would’ve happened if I wasn’t here, huh?” 

“You planning on goin’ somewhere?” You asked, crossing your arms. 

“I don’t know, maybe!” He said, throwing his arms up. 

“Well then I guess I’ll try not to get into any more situations where the great Daryl Dixon has to come and save my ass,” you said haughtily as you shoved past him. You knew you were acting immature, but you couldn’t care less at this point. Daryl didn’t let you walk away from him. 

“Don’t do that,” he said, pulling you to a stop. 

“Do what?”

“Act like you’re stupid when you’re not,” he said. “You know damn well ya need to pay more attention. Yer always off in yer head.” He said, tapping your forehead.

“Right, sorry I’m not in expert survival mode every second of every day,” you said.

“Ya just gotta be more careful,” he said, calming down a bit. 

“Cause you won’t always be around?” You asked, still annoyed. 

“Don’t act like it’s not a possibility,” he said. “Ya know I’d never leave ya on purpose.” 

“Right, like when you went off with Merle at the prison? You barely said goodbye to me,” you said, reminding him of the day he chose his brother over his new family.

“I thought ya understood,” he said. 

“I did, I do,” you explained, “It doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt like hell. I don’t want to go through this world without you, so just stop bringing up the possibility every chance you get, okay?” Daryl chewed on his thumb for a second before looking you in the eyes and nodding. 

“Alright,” he said. You tapped your fist against his chest quickly before nodding towards a blocked off part of the store. 

“Let’s see if they have any more blankets and then we’ll go.” Daryl followed you, both of you keeping an eye out for any more stray Walkers. When you pushed through the rusted double doors, however, you were met with a lot more than just a few. A whole swarm of Walkers pushed back at you, their gnarled hands reaching and their twisted jaws snapping. 

Daryl pulled you out of the way, yanking you back by your collar. You both stumbled back towards where you came and the Walkers followed. “Come on!” Daryl yelled, taking your hand as he led you through the store. More and more Walkers, likely pulled in by the sound of the others, forced their way in through other exits. 

You both fired on them, taking out the stragglers while running from the larger herd. “There!” You yell, pointing to two more doors on the far side. You both break into a run, bursting through the doors. Only a few meet you on the other side and you take them out quickly with your gun.

Daryl rushes to the far wall where a fire exit door is half hanging on its hinges. He throws himself against it, trying to break it down, but it barely moves. You run over to help him, pushing with all of your strength, but it only moves slightly farther. “Shit, what do we do?” You asked, looking over your shoulder to see the Walkers converging on your escape route. Daryl thinks for a moment before dropping his bow and unsheathing his knives. 

“Try to get the door open, I’ll slow em’ down,” he said, getting ready to fight. 

“Daryl, no—”

“Just do it!” He orders and you get back to work, trying to work the hinges loose. As the Walkers push through the doorway, Daryl is on them, stabbing their skulls one right after the other. You work fervently, trying to get the damn door to move when more Walkers bust into the room. 

You watch in horror as they converge on Daryl, backing him into a corner. Then, suddenly, the ground is shaking and the floor is creaking. Daryl glances at you quickly before the old floor below him gives out and he crashes through along with five or so Walkers. “Daryl!” You scream, causing the remaining Dead to look at you. 

You fired on them, dropping each one with perfect head shots. Running towards the hole, you cut through more, desperately trying to hear anything that meant Daryl wasn’t being eaten alive. The last two Walkers stumbled towards the hole and you fired with your pistol, your last two bullets hitting their brains. 

“Daryl!” You called into the hole. Taking out your flashlight, you could see him. He was among crumbling debris and crushed Walkers. His left leg was slightly crooked as he lashed out at the two Walkers that still came at him. He threw his blade and missed the closest one. 

You had to think fast. You turned and ran for his crossbow, a bolt already loaded. You went back to the hole and hiked the bow up, struggling under the weight. You really should have practiced more, you thought to yourself. Taking a deep breath, you aimed the bow at the nearest Walker and fired. 

The bolt hit it in the side of its head, dropping it immediately. Daryl looked up at you in shock before, gaining more strength and using a broken piece of wood to impale the other one. Using his good leg, he stomped on any remaining heads, crying out in agony. 

“Daryl!” You called down to him. 

“Knee’s dislocated!” He said back. Shit. You looked around for anything that could help and spotted an old wooden ladder. Dropping the bow, you ran to the ladder and hauled it out of its cobweb cocoon. You dragged it over to the edge and lowered it down. 

“I can’t lift you with a rope, so you gotta try to climb the best you can,” you said, trying to remain calm for his sake and yours. Daryl yelled in pain as he half crawled towards the ladder. You kept your eyes on him and the other door, making sure no other Walkers were going to come rushing through, hoping the other corpses in the threshold were enough of a chokepoint for more.

Daryl grabbed onto the first rung and pushed to standing, keeping the weight off his left knee. “Okay, come on, you can do it. I’m not leaving you here.”

“I sure as hell hope not!” He growled as he began to climb. His arms shook as he put all the weight on them, using them to lift his right leg up the rungs. You held onto the ladder tight, afraid it would break and Daryl would go down again and not get up again. 

A Walker came pushing through the door, half of its face missing. Hooking your legs around the ladder to keep it steady, you loaded another arrow into the bow and lifted it, leaning back on the ground. You fired and the Walker fell to the floor with a crunch. 

Dropping the bow, you look back down at Daryl who had nearly reached the top. “Grab my hand,” you said, reaching towards him. Daryl reached out and grasped your bloody hand. Using both of your arms, you pulled on his hand, hauling him up out of the hole as he pushed with his one good leg. 

Daryl crawled onto solid ground and lay there, panting. You moved the messy hair from his eyes and rolled him over gently. He looked up at you, clearly in pain. “Thanks,” he said. You hugged him briefly before getting up. 

“Thank me when we get the hell out of here,” you said, picking up the bow and running to the fire exit again. This time, you kicked out at the metal hinges with everything you had and one popped off the screws. Using a metal pipe you found on the ground, you bashed at the remaining screws until the door finally fell open. 

Securing your weapons and the bow across your back, you went back for Daryl. “Come on, big guy, time to go,” you said, slinging his arm around your shoulder. He grunted in pain as you got him standing. Leaning over you grabbed a broom from one of the cabinets and broke off the end so he could use it as a walking stick until you made it to the bike. 

“(Y/N)…” he said, his face twisted in pain. 

“No, shut up, we’re going. Put all your weight on me.” You then reached into his holster and pulled out his gun, ready to aim it if necessary. Pushing towards the sunlit alleyway, you held him up the entire way. You didn’t know if it was adrenaline or just your stubbornness that got him outside, but you did. 

As you both hobbled towards the motorcycle that was still out front, you shot two more Walkers that came near. Each jostle felt like a blade to Daryl’s knee, causing him to fight to keep conscious. “Just a little further,” you promised as you finally saw the handlebars of his bike.

You had to practically drag him the rest of the way. You tossed the broomstick down as you carefully maneuvered him onto the back of the bike. Slipping the crossbow off your back, you put it on his and then released the bungee cord he usually used to tie down his weapon from the bike. Placing your bag on your front, you straddled the bike and then looped the cord around Daryl and fastened it around you, to keep him stable. “Alright, this is the best we can do so you stay awake Daryl and you hold on.” 

You felt him nod against your back and you started to worry that maybe he had hit his head on the way down as well. “Shit,” you muttered and then looked down at the bike. You had only driven it a few times and you weren’t perfect, but you had to get Daryl back home and to Denise. 

You turned the ignition, double-checked the kill switch, checked you were in neutral, and took hold of the clutch. You hit the start button and felt the rumble beneath you, “Okay, don’t kill Daryl, don’t kill Daryl, don’t kill Daryl,” you repeated to yourself over and over again. You finished the checks and then you were flying out of the abandoned parking lot, trying not to wobble too much. 

Daryl slumped against you as you focused on the road, trying to go fast enough to get him home, but not so you both would end up in a ditch. “Just hold on for me,” you said to yourself as you felt his weight behind you. “Hold on, Daryl.”

* * *

When you arrived at the gates of Alexandria, you were screaming. 

“Open the gates!” You yelled over the loud engine of the bike. Sasha appeared at the top and when she saw Daryl hunched over you, she called down to Eugene who pulled the gate open quickly. As you sped through the gate, Sasha was already calling for help. 

You shut off the bike and set down the kickstand. “(Y/N)!” You turned to see Rick running at you at full speed. You carefully disentangled yourself from the bungee cord and slid off the bike. You caught Daryl as he fell forward. “What happened?’ Rick asked, getting to you quickly. 

“He fell through the floor,” you said, your hands still shaking from driving the bike. “He said he dislocated his knee, but he passed out on the way, I think he hit his head.” 

“Glenn!” Rick yelled, spotting him as he came running down the street with Abraham. “Hey, hey, hey,” Rick said, grabbing your shaking arm as the other still held onto Daryl. 

“I thought we were gonna crash, I thought I was gonna kill him,” you said as you looked at Rick with wide eyes. 

“Daryl’s gonna be okay,” Rick assured you, “you got him here, you got him home.” Glenn and Abraham arrived and they hauled Daryl off the bike. They took his arms and Rick took his best friend’s legs and they carried him to the infirmary immediately. 

You were frozen as you watched them carry Daryl’s unconscious form to Denise. Maggie appeared at your side then, carefully placing her arm around your shoulders. “Come on,” she said as she pulled you after them. You leaned on Maggie slightly as she got you to Denise’s. 

When the two of you entered the building, a yell reached your ears. Daryl was struggling against Abraham who held him down. He looked wildly around until his eyes landed on you. 

“Hold him down!” Denise ordered as Rick and Abe each took a shoulder and Glenn put a piece of leather between Daryl’s teeth. Denise wasted no time in grabbing Daryl’s leg and twisting and pulling. A sickening pop echoed throughout the room and Daryl let out a cry as his knee went back into place.

A few minutes later and he calmed down. Denise was telling you and Rick what Daryl would need to do to get his knee to heal up properly and that he didn’t have a concussion, but was probably just a bit out of it from a quick blow to the head. He would be fine with rest. 

However, you barely heard anything Denise was saying because all you felt was anger and worry. Daryl looked at you and all he wanted to do was to tell you everything was going to be okay. Rick noticed the look between the two of you. 

“Let’s give them a minute, okay?” He ushered everyone out and then it was just the two of you. You crossed the room to him and stared at the large bandage that was now covering his knee. 

Tears flowed down your face as you struggled to keep your breathing under control. “(Y/N)…” Daryl said, reaching out to you, but you shook your head. 

“What the hell was that!” You bellowed at him, causing him to jump slightly. “How could you just…just jump into a whole crowd of those…those things and take them all on! What, was this some kind of sick test? To see if I could make it in the world without you? You wanted to see if I’m strong enough?”

“No—” he tried, but you spoke over him. 

“Well guess what, Daryl, I’m not! I’m not strong enough without you! I can’t do any of this without you and you can’t ask me to. Not after… not after we went through all this bullshit to stay together.” You took his hand, nearly squeezing it with all your strength. “You can’t leave me, Daryl,” you said, pleading, “please, please don’t. You’re the only person I have,” you paused, trying to see through the tears as the next words crawled from your throat, “you’re the only dad I’ve ever had.” Daryl’s eyes widened slightly at your words, his head tilting to the side. “Please,” you said again, “I can’t lose you. Don’t make me lose you.” 

“Oh, sweetheart,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. You collapse against the side of his bed, sobbing into his hand. His other hand came over and stroked the back of your hair. “Shh, it’s okay. I’m alright, we’re alright. I’m not goin’ anywhere.” You looked up at him through tears and messy hair. “Come here,” he said gently moving over so you could curl into his right side. 

You were careful not to jostle the bed too much as you knew he was in pain, but as soon as you lay down and placed your head on his chest, he wrapped his arms around you, holding you tight to him. “Don’t die,” you whispered. 

“I can’t promise ya that,” Daryl said into your hair, “but I’m gonna do everythin’ I can to be here for as long as possible.” You look up at him, your (Y/E/C/) eyes looking into his blue ones. “Before, ya asked if I ever wanted a kid,” he said, “I already got the best one. No other is gonna compare to ya.” 

“I love you,” you said to him as you dropped your head back down to his chest. Daryl pressed a kiss to the top of your head. 

“I love ya too kid,” he said. “Always will, no matter what, I promise.”


End file.
